grakemjo

Hi Everyone, Just hoping I can pop back in here to get some more first hand experiences if possible. Our Cav has increased her coughing, this time with a really deep hacky type cough. Other than that she 'seems' ok. We took her back to our vets last night and xrays showed she had advanced heart failure now and lots of fluid on the lungs. She's never had the fluid previously. She was on Fortekor 5 and Aminyllin and he has now given her Vetmedin and Frudix (Lasix) tablets. He said to stop the Aminyllin now and if the cost was too great then we could stop the Fortekor in favour of the Vetmedin. Unfortunately as both these drugs are very very expensive we will have to stop the Fortekor. I've spoken with Rappie on here who has given me some wonderful advice etc but I was just wondering if anyone else here had had their dogs on Vetmedin and Lasix for heart failure (with no Fortekor) and if so, how they are going (or went) on it. She will be 10 in May but she is still a happy dog, and has definitely not lost her appetite at all. We could not stand by and watch her suffer so its nice to know that she is still happy and content....at the moment. We are taking her back tonight so they can listen and check the fluid in her lungs again. She was given a Frudemide injection last night which he said will cause her to want to wee a lot and she's certainly been doing that so hopefully its going. She has not had an accident inside for years but last night she wee'd inside twice, without even asking to go outside. That's not like her so I'm only guessing that maybe it just came on her all of a sudden and she was busting so had to go!!

Thanks so much Rappie - that would be great!

Great idea Janba, however I just did some more googling and it says they make Fortekor 5 then the next up is Fortekor 20. That would be great if we could split a tablet in 4!! Sounds good in theory but somehow I think that would be a bit hard to get correct dosage if you were split it into 4 even pieces. I'll ask about it though!!!

Thanks jemappelle. Do you know how much they cost him - is $85 for a box of 30 in the ballpark roughly??

Sorry, just saw your post cowanbree. To be honest, we haven't really noticed a lot of difference since she has been taking them. When we originally took her to the vet because of the coughing, she had also been breathing a bit funny the night before, kind of like a wheezy breathe. When he took her temp it was a little high so she had some antibiotics along with these other 2 drugs he prescribed her. He said it was like asthma. The breathing became better which I put down to the Fortekor, but thinking back now, it was most likely because of the bug she had and the AB's fixed it. Her coughing is pretty much the same as when we first took her, probably a little worse/more frequent if anything. I thought the idea of the Fortekor was to slow down the progression of the heart failure - is that right or wrong?? If its wrong then yeah, maybe you're right and she probably doesn't need to be on them? God, its all so hard knowing what the right thing is to do. She does also at times get all wonky on her back legs if she becomes overexcited. Its almost like her heart rate must go up way too much and she loses her balance. This has happened twice and I have raced over and picked her till she's calm and then she's off again as right as rain. We now avoid all over excting situations LOL!! Anyway, it would be great if she doesn't need to be on them. Of course though, I can just see my vet saying that yes she really should take them and if that's the case I don't know if I could make that decision, against vets advice. I'd feel way too guilty if something then happened. Ahhh, what to do, what to do.........

Thanks...I don't really think I would go along the lines of getting them from the US - just a momentary thought that popped into my mind when I posted!! I didn't know that was a 'generic' brand as such that could be substitued for the Fortekor. That would definitely help it was possible. As mentioned we have only seen this vet a few times and now all this is happening! Although he appears like he knows his stuff, in the back of my head I sometimes question some things - probably because I just don't feel like I know him 'well'. We have been talking about taking her back to our original vets for a second opinion on her treatment etc but from what I've read he seems like he's doing the right thing. Just a confidence thing on our part I guess that we have to get through. Thanks again for reading.

Thanks for the reply Ashka. Its such a shame that cavs are so prone to this. Yeah, that's the 'good' thing - she shows no signs of being in any pain at all. Its just the horrible cough that when she does it I sometimes think "c'mon cough it up, cough it up" because I get scared sometimes that maybe one day she won't be able to and something will happen. I have no idea if that would ever be the case or not?? Thanks for the link. I came across that one is my searches and wished we had a Walmart here where we could buy tablets as cheap as that!! It has lots of good info in it. Don't suppose you or anyone knows if someone in the US can buy prescription meds for dogs and bring it back with them to Sydney (I have family who are planning to holiday there). I would think there are probably customs laws restricting this though!!

Hi all, I'm only new here, just joined after googling looking for information..... We are the very proud owners of a beautiful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She will be 10 in May. About 3 months ago, after thinking she just had a cough, we took her to the vet to be checked out. After performing some xrays etc he has diagnosed her with heart failure and she is now on meds for it. We have had her since she was a pup and was a very active dog in the early years. Of course, like most cavs at her age now, she loves nothing better than to lay around watching the world go by and sleeping! Although with 2 small toddler children who adore her (and her them) she doesn't always get this LOL! Anyway, was just wondering what the prognosis is for her. She is like our 'first baby' as such and its very hard knowing this is like the beginning of the end. She does not appear to be in any pain at all, but does still have that cough several times throughout the day - its like she has a frog in her throat and she coughs and splutters till she's coughed it up so to speak. Also, she is now on Aminyllin tablets (half morning and night) and also now takes 1 Fortekor 5 tablet daily. The Aminyllin are fine at approx $20 a month but the FORTEKOR 5 is $85.00 a month. We are a 1 income family with 2 small children (3 counting the dog LOL) and was just wondering if anyone knows of anywhere we can go to get her meds any cheaper. We have played around with the budget and have managed over the last few months since she's been taking them but unfortunately its not easy. We asked the vet if we could buy in bulk to get them cheaper but he said he buys them in bulk and sells them at the bulk price cost. We moved last year and have only been seeing this vet for a short time so not sure if that would be correct or not - haven't built up that rapport as yet so can only hope what he is saying is correct. So yeah, if anyone knows somewhere where we could go where its cheaper that would be wonderful. If not, we'll roll with the punches and keep fiddling with the budget - its our responsibilty to continue to give her the best life possible and we'll continue to do that. Look forward to hearing any replies or advice you may be able to offer. Thanks so much!